Quick update

We ran up to Josam's in Orlando to have our shocks swapped out.  It worked out very well, we pulled in a few minutes after 10am, and were in the shop less than 15 minutes later and all done within 1 1/2 hours!  Nice when a plan comes together.  Now the leaking shocks have been sent back to Koni for their review and hopefully we will get our money back under their lifetime warranty, should know in a week or so.   On the way back we stopped in at Creative Coach to discuss our potential repair in more detail for the area around the wiper shafts and the removal and reinstallation of the 3M film protecting the front of the coach.  We had some questions that we felt would be better to discuss face to face with the coach right there.  We were pleased with the estimate and made an appointment to have it all done in April on our way out of Dodge.   Also coincidence had it that Jan's sister, Karen, has her coach there having work done including a new tile floor and we went to look at it while we were there.  They had removed the one slide on the passenger side front to facilitate the job and what a sight it was!

Me inspecting the new tile floor

Slide's out

Floor looks great!

As to our unexpected leak in the slide out, we went up on the roof and up on a ladder to see if we could see any potential problem areas.  Nothing jumped out at us, so we did a bit of caulking around the roof, pulled the slide in and out a couple times, and with the next spell of torrential rain and wind, we had no leaks.  So we will call it a fluke.  We have another band of weather coming in today so we will see.

We have been having fun, visiting and lunching with friends, including a 60th wedding anniversary party for Jack and Betty!

Here's the couple getting ready to cut the cake with
party host's, Pat and Lynda overseeing

Wasting away in Floridaville:)

While we sit in Florida, we are busy with friends and involved with different social activities, hence the blog slows down.  We have made progress with the shock issue, and have received the new replacements for the leaking ones and have set up an appointment in Orlando with Josam's to have them replaced on Tuesday.  Also our windshield has been inspected and this replacement will be done under warranty as they feel, as did we, that it is a stress fracture, and the best news in the installer will come here to our site to replace it.

So we have been coasting along almost smug for the last few months, very few problems, no big projects ahead, and so on.......   Well this morning we wake to pouring rain, in fact it started around midnight, and Jan and I are sitting in bed having our coffee and reading the paper when she says, "Why is there water dripping on me?!?"  And sure enough, the wind must be just right, and the slide seal just wrong and sure enough rain is seeping in over our heads along the slide.  So we get the slide in, clean up the water, and now we have a new project to evaluate the problem and take care of it.  I believe it is getting  to be time to replace the slide seals since the coach is now 8 going on 9 years old.  

Now on that age subject, we went to the huge Tampa RV Supershow yesterday, the largest RV show anywhere.  No we aren't looking for another  coach, we just like to look.  Well, nothing we saw makes us want to get rid of our coach.  We don't like the way the floor plans and innovation is headed, nor the prices.  For example, windows.  We have sliding windows throughout the coach, with screens, so on those beautiful days we can open our windows up and enjoy pleasant, clean air.  Nowadays, all the windows are glued in and non sliders, I guess because they look good????  They are small opening awning windows, just the bottom opens out slightly.  No way would you get any breeze through the coach, they don't open enough and even open they would still impede the airflow.

This gives you an idea of what I am describing.

But this is just a small example of what we are seeing.  We admit this is all personal opinion, lots of the new stuff is selling like hotcakes.  Floor plans now include almost exclusively 1 1/2 baths.  I guess that for people who are not full-timing are much in demand, not for us, it wastes too much room, and in our opinion it runs every guest through your bedroom to take a shower.  Also it appears the manufacturers are in competition to see who can install the most TV's in a unit.  We counted 6 on one coach!  Anyway we are very content with what we have.

So throughout the winter the posts will be a little more sporadic, unless you really want to see a bunch of pictures of the good food we are eating:)

A New Year!

We have started with a bang as we moved sites, and are so pleased.  It's almost like being in a new park.  We are out of the wind, and the direct sun.  We are under a canopy of beautiful live oak trees on a huge lot surrounded by wonderful neighbors and friends.  We have thrown ourselves into making it our own with a huge carpeted area, lighting in the trees, our tomato plants all set up, and a little landscaping around our new satellite dish.

Our new site

  
One drawback of this new site is with the trees our satellite dish on the roof of the coach cannot see the satellites.  We called DirecTV and found out they would install a fixed dish for us, which then in turn gave us an opportunity to upgrade from our 2 HD DVR's to the Genie system.  The Genie has an enormous hard drive, and can be accessed from either TV, so we can watch a show in the living area, then decide to finish it in the bedroom, also it allows you to record up to 5 shows at the same time, and another great thing it connects wirelessly to the bedroom mini Genie.  After a bit of a challenge with the dish install, we had to get permission for the park to sink a pole in the ground, we are all set up, with one little catch, we can't use our present satellite dish antenna without modification.  So our plan right now is to upgrade to a SWM dish on the roof, install it ourselves, and sell our existing one, that way when we start traveling again, we will be all set.

Here you can see the new satellite dish, and the carpeted patio.
We have since covered the sand in the foreground with mulch.
Home sweet home (at least for the winter)

We also have several items we need to address this year, so we are working on scheduling and planning around them.  One we mentioned was our new wiper system cracked the fiberglass front cap where they were mounted, so we need to get that reinforced, sanded out and painted, while we are at it we will remove the 3M coating or film and replace it with new.  It is faded, cracked, and mildewy, a real mess.  Then we need to replace our broken windshield and replace our 4 leaking shock absorbers.  This process is underway now, Koni is sending us 4 new ones, and the way their warranty works is, we buy the 4 new ones at half price, replace the bad ones, send them back to Koni, and then on inspection they credit us the price of the shocks, they have a lifetime warranty.  But we have to get back up to Josam's to get them replaced.  Also we are going to have our diesel engine's valve lash checked and adjusted if necessary, as we have about 108,000 miles on the coach.

So right now we are working on a plan, we think we will leave here for a couple days in early Feb to have the windshield and the shocks replaced.  That will be in Orlando and on the way to Orlando.  Then in April when we leave, we will do the valve lash, the body and paint work, and the 3M mask.  Of course the way we work is even if that is the plan now it may change completely:)

So compared to years previous, this should be a short list of items, I hope I didn't just jinx us.